Nelson County, North Dakota has 23 churches in the Churches List directory, 0 of them verified and 3 with a published website. The 2020 US Religion Census counted 20 congregations and 2,858 adherents across 6 religious bodies in the county. That is 948 adherents per 1,000 residents of its 3,014 people.
| Religious body | Congregations | Adherents | Per 1,000 pop. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | 12 | 2,034 | 674.9 |
| Catholic Church | 4 | 624 | 207.0 |
| Non-denominational Christian Churches | 1 | 80 | 26.5 |
| United Church of Christ | 1 | 60 | 19.9 |
| Association of Free Lutheran Congregations | 1 | 36 | 11.9 |
| Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod | 1 | 24 | 8.0 |
Source: 2020 US Religion Census (Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies). Per-1,000 rates divide reported adherents by the county's 2020 Census population (3,014). Largest 12 bodies by adherents shown.
Directory traditions here: Lutheran (11) · Catholic (6) · Non-Denominational (2) · Foursquare (1) · Episcopal (1) · Congregational (1) · Community (1)
Church registers are among the richest genealogical sources: baptisms, marriages, and burials often predate civil records. The FamilySearch catalog holds microfilmed church records for many North Dakota counties, filed by denomination and parish name: search Nelson County church records on FamilySearch (free account). Cross-reference with the historic-register churches above and the cemeteries listed on each church's page.
FEMA has issued 33 disaster declarations covering Nelson County since records began in 1953, most recently in 2026. The most frequent cause: flood (17 declarations). Churches have historically served as shelters and relief hubs in these events; congregations can register preparedness plans with their county emergency management agency.
Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Directory listings are mapped to Nelson County through the US Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file: each ZIP Code Tabulation Area is assigned to the county holding the largest share of its land area, so a small number of churches in ZIP codes that straddle county lines may be attributed to a neighboring county. Congregation and adherent counts come from the 2020 US Religion Census and are reported by the religious bodies themselves. Population is the county's April 2020 decennial-census base from the US Census Bureau's population-estimates program; per-1,000 adherence rates divide reported adherents by that figure. Corrections to any listing go through the corrections page.